About the Innovation Council

Mobilizing the resources and influence of business leaders in support of the city’s fast-growing innovation economy.

Today, New York City is bustling with tech startups, supported by a proliferation of investors, incubators, accelerators and a host of corporate, government and academic initiatives designed to nurture and promote the sector. As innovation activity has expanded, however, high-growth startups have begun to hit political, bureaucratic and industry speed bumps that threaten the city’s future as a center of innovation.

The Innovation Council intends to harness the mutual interests of the old and new economies of the city, in order to ensure that innovators from around the world will continue to flock here and that the result will be a world class innovation hub built on collaboration rather than disruption.

New York's Innovation Economy

The Partnership worked with Doblin, Deloitte’s innovation consultancy, to examine the current innovation ecosystem, and identify public and private sector-led opportunities to create an environment where innovative companies can scale up and thrive.

Clarify the Ambition

A better marketing plan and clearer value proposition is needed to attract talent and investors

Cultivate an Innovative Business Climate

Review and repeal laws and regulations that inhibit innovation

Nurture Innovation Champions

More champions for innovation are needed to provide innovators with visibility, recognition, and credibility

Align Talent

Address the misalignment between the talent developed in New York City and the specific skills needed, especially in engineering

Foster Meaningful Encounters

Help innovators navigate the splintered and disaggregated innovation ecosystem

Harness International Reach and Workforce Diversity

Promote the city’s diversity as an advantage for innovation efforts that thrive on creativity and broad market testing

Orlan Boston

Bio

Orlan is a Senior Partner at EY where he serves as the Global Client Service Partner for Johnson & Johnson and as the Americas Transaction Advisory Services Life Sciences Sector Leader. Prior to joining EY, Orlan was a Partner with Deloitte Consulting where he held a number of practice, management, and account leadership roles including Member of Deloitte Consulting’s National Markets & Services Leadership Committee, Member of the CEO Advisory Council, National Life Sciences M&A Consulting Practice Leader, and Deloitte Consulting Chief Diversity Officer. He is both an entrepreneur having founded B2C companies in new media and an intrapreneur having started a number of practices and service offerings with Deloitte Consulting and EY over the years. He recently co-founded and launched the EY/YourEncore Strategic Alliance. He has advised a number of entrepreneurs over the years and continues to do so. Orlan is also a passionate social entrepreneur having launched a number of social change and impact ventures and initiatives in publishing, documentary filmmaking, civil rights, philanthropy, and served on nonprofit boards. He is an Obama Presidential Appointee and currently serves on the Board of Governors of the USO where he Co-Chairs the Digital Advisory Council and is a member of the Audit Committee. He is a David Rockefeller Fellow with the Partnership for New York City. He is also a film producer having produced HBO’s critically acclaimed The Out List documentary film with Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and was a contributing author to I Am Ecowarrior and The Out List book. He holds a B.S. in Finance and International Business from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Beth Comstock

Vice Chair, GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY

Beth Comstock

Vice Chair, GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY

Bio

Beth Comstock leads GE’s Business Innovations unit with a mandate to accelerate growth from new businesses and those in transition, intensify commercial impact increase brand value, and work with partners who enhance GE’s inventive culture. GE Business Innovations includes GE Lighting, GE Ventures & Licensing, software commercialization and corporate marketing, sales and communications. Previously she served as President of Integrated Media at NBC Universal overseeing ad sales, marketing and research, and led the company’s digital media efforts, including early development of hulu.com, Peacock Equity, and acquiring ivillage.com. In 2003, she was named GE’s first Chief Marketing officer in more than 20 years. Prior to that, she held a succession of roles at GE, NBC, CBS and Turner Broadcasting. Beth is a member Nike’s Board of Directors and Trustee president of the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. She graduated from the College of William and Mary with a degree in biology.

Mylan L. Denerstein

Partner, GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP

Mylan L. Denerstein

Partner, GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP

Bio

Mylan L. Denerstein is a partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She is a member of the Gibson Dunn’s White Collar Defense and Investigations, Securities Litigation, Appellate and Crisis Management Practice Groups. Prior to joining the Gibson Dunn, Ms. Denerstein served as Counsel to New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo since 2011. She previously served as Executive Deputy Attorney General for Social Justice under then-Attorney General Cuomo, and as Deputy Commisioner for Legal Affairs for the New York City Fire Department. She served as a board member of the Vera Institute of Justice. She graduated in 1993 from Columbia Law School, where she was named a Charles Evans Hughes Fellow and was a recipient of the Jane Marks Murphy Prize for exceptional proficiency and advocacy in clinics.

Stuart Ellman

Co-Founder & Managing Partner, RRE VENTURES

Stuart Ellman

Co-Founder & Managing Partner, RRE VENTURES

Bio

Stuart Ellman is Co-Founder & Managing Partner of RRE Ventures. Stuart began his career at McKinsey and Company. He later worked as a Financial Analyst at Dillon, Read & Co. and as an Associate at Morgan Stanley & Co., where he specialized in fixed income capital markets. After graduating from business school in 1992, Stuart became an entrepreneur, co-founding and serving as Vice President at Advisory Capital Partners, a principal investment and advisory firm. Stuart is the President of the Board of the 92nd Street Y where he has served as a board member since 2001. Stuart is also on the board of The Browning School and serves as a TechStars mentor. Additionally, he serves as a member of the New York City Investment Fund's Clean Tech Sector Group, the VC Advisory Group of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, and the Economic Club of New York. He is also on the Presidents Council for Wesleyan University. Stuart holds an MBA with Distinction from Harvard University and a BA in Economics from Wesleyan University where he was a Gilbert Clee Scholar and a Horace White Fellow.

Rachel Haot

Managing Director, 1776

Rachel Haot

Managing Director, 1776

Bio

Rachel Haot is a Managing Director on the 1776 senior executive team. Prior to this role, Rachel served as Chief Digital Officer and Deputy Secretary for Technology of New York State as part of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s Executive Chamber for two years, from January 2014 to December 2015. During her time in this role, landmark technology initiatives included Governor Cuomo’s historic $1 billion universal broadband plan, the $2 billion Smart School bond act to modernize education and the relaunch of official website NY.gov, the first update in 15 years.
Previously, Rachel served under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg as Chief Digital Officer for the City of New York for three years, from 2011 through the end of Mayor Bloomberg’s administration in 2013. There she she led initiatives including the redesign and rearchitecture of official website NYC.gov, .NYC top-level domain program, tech sector campaign We Are Made in NY, the Digital Ready tech curriculum for public school students, and the Reinvent hackathon series.
Earlier in her career, Rachel was founder and CEO of GroundReport, an early global citizen journalism platforms, from 2006 to 2010. She previously worked in business development for LimeWire and taught as an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. Rachel is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and was named one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business and Chief Digital Officer of the Year by the CDO Summit. She lives with her husband Max and son Jack in Rockaway Beach, NY.

Anton Levy

Managing Director and Global Head of Internet & Technology, General Atlantic

Anton Levy

Managing Director and Global Head of Internet & Technology, General Atlantic

Bio

Anton Levy is a Managing Director and Global Head of Internet & Technology at General Atlantic, based in the firm’s New York office. He serves on the firm’s Investment and Executive Committees and co-chairs the Human Resources Committee.
Since joining GA in 1998, Anton has worked on investments around the globe and across various sectors and currently manages a number of GA’s investments in the internet, marketing services, and media areas. He is currently on the board of directors of Squarespace, OneCountry, Klarna, and Red Ventures, and serves as a board observer for Airbnb, Meituan and Uber. Anton is a former director of prior GA investments including AKQA, Dice Holdings, Mercado Libre, Network Solutions, Web.com, Gilt Groupe, and Zantaz Corporation. He also led the firm’s investments in Alibaba Group and Facebook.
Before joining GA, Anton was an investment banker at Morgan Stanley, where he focused on the technology sector. He is involved with several educational and nonprofit organizations and serves as chairman of Streetwise Partners. Anton is also a trustee of WNYC (New York Public Radio) and the University of Virginia’s Endowment (UVIMCO).
He graduated with a B.S. in commerce with degrees in finance and computer science from the University of Virginia and earned an M.B.A. from Columbia University. Anton graduated with highest honors from both universities.

Anthony Malkin

Chairman & CEO, EMPIRE STATE REALTY TRUST

Anthony Malkin

Chairman & CEO, EMPIRE STATE REALTY TRUST

Bio

Anthony Malkin is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Empire State Realty Trust. Empire State Realty Trust controls 8 million square feet of New York City real estate, including 2.9 million square feet at the namesake tower. Malkin is a board member of the Real Estate Roundtable and Chair of its Sustainability Policy Advisory Committee, a member of the Urban Land Institute, member of the Board of Governors of the Real Estate Board of New York, member of the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, member of the Advisory Board of MissionPoint Capital Partners, and member of the Advisory Council of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. Mr. Malkin guest lectures on real estate at the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia. Mr. Malkin received a bachelor's degree cum laude from Harvard College.

Andrew McLaughlin

Partner, Betaworks

Andrew McLaughlin

Partner, Betaworks

Bio

Andrew McLaughlin is a partner at betaworks, a technology and media start-up studio based in New York City, and also serves as CEO of Digg and Instapaper. He is Chairman of the Board of Access, a member of the Board of Directors at Chartbeat, the Sunlight Foundation, and Public Knowledge, and a Future Tense Fellow at the New America Foundation. From 2011 to 2013 he served on the board of Code for America. Andrew served in the Obama Administration from 2009 to 2011 as Deputy Chief Technology Officer and from 2008 to 2009 as a member of the Technology, Innovation and Government Reform cluster of the Obama/Biden presidential transition team. Andrew holds a B.A. in History from Yale University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Greg Mondre

Managing Partner & Managing Director, SILVER LAKE

Greg Mondre

Managing Partner & Managing Director, SILVER LAKE

Bio

Greg Mondre joined Silver Lake in 1999 and is a Managing Partner and Managing Director based in New York. Prior to joining Silver Lake, Mr. Mondre was a principal at Texas Pacific Group, where he focused on private equity investments across a wide range of industries, with a particular focus on technology. Earlier in his career, Mr. Mondre worked as an investment banker in the Communications, Media and Entertainment Group of Goldman, Sachs & Co. He currently serves as a director of Avaya, Inc., Fanatics, Inc., GoDaddy, Inc., Motorola Solutions, Red Ventures, Sabre Holdings, Vantage Data Centers, and is on the Operating Committee of SunGard Capital Corp. Previously he was a director of IPC Systems, Inc., UGS Corporation and Network General Corporation. Mr. Mondre graduated from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Economics.

Jennifer Nason

Global Chairman, Tech, Media & Telecom, J.P. MORGAN

Jennifer Nason

Global Chairman, Tech, Media & Telecom, J.P. MORGAN

Bio

Ms. Nason is the firm’s Global Chairman of Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT) Investment Banking based in New York. Ms. Nason has been with J.P. Morgan for 29 years having joined the Melbourne, Australia office in 1986. After an initial period working in Asia as part of the Project Finance team she relocated to New York where she spent several years in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group. In 1998 Ms. Nason joined the TMT group within Investment Banking as head of the Telecommunications practice with a focus on strategic M&A, debt and equity financing for the firm’s key relationships in this sector. Today as the Global Chairman of the TMT Investment Banking practice, Ms. Nason is responsible for traditional and emerging clients across the technology, media and
telecom sectors globally.
Prior to joining J.P. Morgan, Ms. Nason spent three years with the Department of Management and Budget in Australia as an infrastructure project analyst.
In 2014, Ms. Nason was a Member of the Australian Government Panel charged with reviewing the Australian financial system. Ms. Nason currently Chairs the Board of
the American Australian Association and is a Member of the Economic Club of New York and the Partnership for New York City Innovation Council. Ms. Nason has a B.A.
and B.Com (Honors) from the University of Melbourne in Australia.

Michael D. Rhodin

Senior Vice President, IBM Watson, IBM CORPORATION

Michael D. Rhodin

Senior Vice President, IBM Watson, IBM CORPORATION

Bio

Mike Rhodin is Senior Vice President, IBM Watson. Watson is one of IBM’s most significant innovations in the company’s 103-year history and represents a new era of information technology. IBM Watson is charged with accelerating a new class of “cognitive” software, services and apps that will fuel a diverse cloud-based ecosystem of enterprises, academic institutions and entrepreneurs. Before heading up Watson, Mike led the Software Solutions Group delivering industry-specific solutions in high-growth areas such as Business Analytics, Smarter Commerce, Smarter Cities and Social Business. Mike has held a number of general management positions across IBM, including the Software business where he led the introduction of IBM's social business platform, which IDC has deemed #1 for four years in a row. He was also instrumental in helping build IBM’s globally integrated enterprise when he lead IBM Northeast Europe, which included Germany, UK, Switzerland, Austria and the Nordics. Mike joined IBM in 1984 after he graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science

Kevin P. Ryan

Chairman & CEO, AlleyCorp

Kevin P. Ryan

Chairman & CEO, AlleyCorp

Bio

Kevin P. Ryan is a technology innovator and entrepreneur who is perhaps best known as the former CEO of DoubleClick. Kevin spent 9 years as President and then CEO building the interactive ad giant into a multi-billion dollar global industry leader, which was ultimately acquired by Google in March, 2008 for $3.1 billion. Kevin is chairman and chief executive officer of AlleyCorp LLC, an incubator of technology and Internet companies based in New Yorkâ€™s Silicon Alley. As part of this role, Kevin serves as chairman of the juggernaut fashion site Gilt Groupe, as well as of Henry Blodgetâ€™s The Business Insider, the online publisher that recently aggregated its three media properties, The Business Insider, Clusterstock and The Business Sheet into The Business Insider. Kevin is also co-founder of the other companies in the AlleyCorp network which include: MongoDB a scalable and manageable data persistence platform for cloud computing. Prior to AlleyCorp, Kevin was first president then later became CEO of DoubleClick. There, he was instrumental in building the company from a 20-person startup to a global leader with over 1500 employees. Silicon Alley Reporter voted DoubleClick â€œNew York Company of the Yearâ€ and Kevin was named one of the â€œ50 Most Influential Business Peopleâ€ by Crain's New York Business. In 2009, Kevin was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young. Aside from his professional responsibilities, Kevin serves on the boards of Human Rights Watch, the NYC Investment Fund and INSEAD. Kevin is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Yale International Council. He was the first angel investor in TheLadders.com and previously served on the boards of the Direct Marketing Association, The Ad Council, HotJobs and the advisory board of Doctors Without Borders. Kevin received a B.A. from Yale University and an M.B.A. from INSEAD (The Business School for the World).

Julie Samuels

Executive Director, Tech:NYC

Julie Samuels

Executive Director, Tech:NYC

Bio

Julie Samuels is Executive Director of Tech:NYC. Before that she was Executive Director at Engine, a nation-wide nonprofit focused on technology entrepreneurship and advocacy, where she remains President of the Board. Julie is a frequent commentator on technology and policy issues for national media—particularly in the intellectual property space—and she has filed briefs with the Supreme Court and testified before Congressional Committees. She previously worked at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, where she was a senior staff attorney and the Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents. Before joining EFF, Julie litigated IP and entertainment cases. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Julie spent time as a legislative assistant at the Media Coalition in New York, as an assistant editor at the National Journal in D.C., and she worked at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) in Champaign, IL. Julie earned her J.D. from Vanderbilt University and her B.S. in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She serves on the Boards of Engine, TechCongress, and the Internet Education Foundation, and on various Advisory Boards, such as of the Defensive Patent License and the License on Transfer Network, as well as on Comptroller Scott Stringer’s Red Tape Commission. She lives in New York City with her family.

Robert K. Steel

Chief Executive Officer, Perella Weinberg Partners LP

Robert K. Steel

Chief Executive Officer, Perella Weinberg Partners LP

Bio

Mr. Steel is a Partner and serves as Chief Executive Officer at Perella Weinberg Partners. Prior to joining the firm, he was New York City's Deputy Mayor for Economic Development from 2010- 2013 where he was responsible for the Bloomberg Administration's five-borough economic development strategy and job-creation efforts, and oversaw such agencies as the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Department of City Planning, Department of Small Business Services, NYC Economic Development Corporation and NYC & Company, and chaired the Brooklyn Bridge Park board. A key initiative of Mayor Bloomberg's Administration was to encourage and grow the technology sector of New York City's economy, and Mr. Steel led the applied sciences initiative, which established the Cornell-Technion campus on Roosevelt Island and New York University Center for Urban Science and Progress initiative in Brooklyn, New York.

Michael Steib

President & CEO, XO GROUP INC.

Michael Steib

President & CEO, XO GROUP INC.

Bio

Michael Steib, President and CEO, joined XO Group in July 2013. Previously, Steib served as Chief Executive Officer at Vente-Privee USA beginning in 2011. From 2007 to 2011, Steib served at Google Inc. where he helped build Google TV Ads and grow Google Mobile Ads and YouTube’s advertising business. Prior, Steib held various positions at NBC Universal/General Electric, where he lead the creation of new digital businesses and helped to close $20 billion in mergers and acquisitions. Earlier in his career, he worked for Walker Digital LLC and served as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. Steib received a BA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Mark Stein

Senior Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer, IAC

Mark Stein

Senior Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer, IAC

Bio

Mark Stein serves as Executive Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer of IAC, where he is responsible for working with the senior leadership of IAC’s operating businesses to develop their strategic initiatives and execute on major growth opportunities.
Mr. Stein was formerly the Chief Strategy Officer of IAC Search & Applications and Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at IAC, a position he had held since 2008. In this capacity he was responsible for driving growth across IAC’s portfolio of desktop software, mobile applications and media properties (including Ask.com, About.com, Dictionary.com, Investopedia, Apalon, and Mindspark) as well as expanding IAC’s overall business through execution on a combination of acquisition, investment and strategic commercial transactions. Before that, Mr. Stein served in various senior roles within IAC’s operating businesses, including Executive Vice President of Corporate and Business Development at IAC Search & Media and its predecessor Ask Jeeves, Inc., where his responsibilities included overseeing all corporate development activity, as well as day-to-day management of those businesses syndication and partner distribution operations. Prior to Ask Jeeves, Mr. Stein served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Interactive Search Holdings (ISH), where he managed all legal affairs and business development. He played a central role in the growth of ISH from its founding in 1999, through its evolution into a consolidated network of internet media properties and applications, and culminating with its acquisition by Ask Jeeves in 2004 for in excess of $500 million.
Mr. Stein was also an attorney with Weil, Gotshal & Manges, where he represented technology firms, media companies and professional sports players associations.
He currently sits on the board of Remedy Health Media.
Mr. Stein graduated from the Benjamin Franklin Scholar Program at the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School and a B.A. in American History from the College of Arts and Sciences.

About Us

The Partnership for New York City represents the city’s business leadership and its largest private sector employers. We work with government, labor and the nonprofit sector to promote economic growth and maintain the city’s position as a global center of commerce and innovation. Through the Partnership Fund for New York City, the Partnership contributes directly to projects that create jobs, improve economically distressed communities and stimulate new business creation.